An End To All
by Angelus1
Summary: Buffy and the Scoobies head down to L.A. to aid in the situation with The Beast. They think they know what they're walking into, but they have no idea.
1. Chapter One

Title: An End To All   
  
Author: Angelus  
  
E-mail: angelus1317@hotmail.com (Please put "An End To All" on the subject line.)  
  
Subject: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel  
  
Category: BSR  
  
Rating: PG-13 - one short scene only.  
  
Summary: Buffy and the Scoobies head down to L.A. to aid in the situation with The Beast. They think they know what they're walking into, but they have no idea.  
  
Spoilers: Pretty much don't read if you haven't been watching either show recently. It's completely spoiler-ridden.  
  
Archive: Anywhere, just ask me first.  
  
Disclaimer: Yeah, right, sure I own 'em. In my dreams. Buffy, Spike, Dawn, Willow, Xander, Anya, Tara, Cordelia, Connor, Angel, and any other characters mentioned here are the property of Joss Whedon, WGN/UPN, and Mutant Enemy Inc. No copyright infringement is intended.  
  
Author's notes: This is my spin on how I want things to turn out in the end. C/A, B/S, all the way. Nothing much else to say. Oh, but I don't really know what street Giles lives on, so I named it Somerset Lane.  
  
IMPORTANT Author's Notes: As you can see, this is a Buffy/Angel crossover. So, by a very precise scientific method (known to most as "eeny-meeny-miney-  
moe"), I decided that I would post it under the Buffy section. This note is to inform you all that after the next two chapters are posted, it will be moving back to the Buffy section, classified as a Buffy/Spike romance/drama. It will NOT return to the Angel section. I'm sorry if this creates any problems or inconveniences, but a story can't be in two places at the same time, right? Well, at lease according to ff.net. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it. If you don't watch Buffy, however, you might not get very much out of this story, especially since the first two chapters are Buffy-centric.  
  
Dedication: To Angie, the only person I know right now that is real and true and honest. And, consequently, just awesome as hell. I love you. So much. I can't thank you enough for just being there and being you.  
  
~*~  
  
Buffy was in heaven when the phone rang. Or, rather, Spike's arms, but close enough. His mouth was on her breast and his hand was creeping its way up her thigh and she swore that if he didn't just stop teasing her, she was going to have to kill him. But the bloody phone just kept ringing and...wait a minute. Bloody? Dammitt, now she was starting to talk like him.  
  
"Dawnie, could you get that?" she shouted, proud at how normal her voice sounded. But then Spike's fingers brushed across the front of her thin cotton panties and she gasped, all thoughts of the phone forgotten. Approximately two rings and ten seconds later, it stopped, just as Spike entered her.  
  
*Hope it wasn't anything important,* he thought.  
  
~*~  
  
Dawn sighed as she moved to grab the receiver. Getting the phone was supposed to be Buffy's job, just in case the school called wanting to know where she was. But she had seen her sister disappear up to her room about half an hour ago. Five minutes later, Spike had followed. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on.  
  
"Hello?" Dawn spoke into the phone, trying her best to sound sick.  
  
"Dawnie?" replied a muffled, staticky, but ultimately familiar voice.  
  
"Angel?!" the teenager exclaimed. He chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, it's me," he said. "Listen, is your sister home?" Dawn paused.  
  
"Yeah, she's here, but she's kind of - " And then he hung up. Dawn frowned, staring confusedly at the receiver in her hand. From across the room, Willow looked up.  
  
"Angel?!" she echoed Dawn's earlier sentiment, clearly just as shocked. Dawn nodded.  
  
"We should probably tell Buffy," Kennedy suggested.  
  
"Right. I'll go," Xander volunteered.  
  
"No, I'll go," Dawn tried to protest, but Xander was already headed up the stairs. She bit her lip, thinking desperately of a way to stop him. But luckily, Buffy met him halfway as she was coming down, Spike trailing behind her. Xander glanced suspiciously from one to the other before dismissing the notion as impossible and focusing on more important matters at hand.  
  
"You got a phone call," he said, as the three of them sat down in the living room.  
  
"From who?" Buffy asked.   
  
"Angel," Willow supplied softly. Her best friend's eyes went wide. Beside her, Spike's fists clenched.  
  
"What did he want?" he asked gruffly. Xander directed the vampire's attention to Dawn with a wave of his hand.  
  
"I don't know exactly," the girl admitted. "He hung up on me." Buffy frowned.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I don't know that either."  
  
"Tell me *exactly* what he said."  
  
"Okay, I picked up, he recognized my voice, he told me it was him, he asked if you were here. I said yes, he said 'great', then he hung up."  
  
The Slayer's brow furrowed in concentration. Despite how close she and Angel had become as friends over the years, they rarely spoke. It was just...too painful, she guessed. Still. She doubted it would ever not be, really. So if he was calling, it had to be something important. Probably life-threatening. She silently cursed herself for not answering earlier.  
  
"You're sure that was all?" Buffy asked her sister. Dawn nodded.  
  
"That's it," she confirmed. "But he sounded...I don't know. Funny. Not like Angel."  
  
Her mind made up, Buffy reached for the phone. As she dialed the number from memory, Spike stood and walked out. Her heart went out to him, and while she wished that she could chase after him and explain the nessecity of this call and the depth of her yet-unspoken feelings towards him, there just wasn't enough time. Something was going on and she needed to get to the bottom of it. Spike's stubbornness and jealousy would just have to take a number for the time being.  
  
On the fifth ring, Cordelia answered.  
  
"Angel Investigations," she said. Buffy didn't fail to note the lack of enthusiasm in her voice, but she assumed for the moment that it was just Cordelia being Cordelia.  
  
"Where's Angel?" she asked. There was a long pause before the brunette spoke again, so softly that Buffy could barely hear her.  
  
"Angel's gone," she said. And only now did Buffy hear the weariness in the other girl's voice; the tears threatening to spill over any moment. This was a far cry from the Cordy they all knew and loved to hate. A million questions spun through Buffy's mind, and she realized that the situation in L.A. was much, much worse than she had been expecting.  
  
"Tell me what happened," she requested. Cordelia snorted.  
  
"You got a few years?" she joked weakly.  
  
"I've got as long as you need."  
  
~*~  
  
Spike was at the sink when Dawn entered the kitchen, his back to her, a package of blood in one hand and a cigarette in the other, his whole body tense.  
  
"You know you're not allowed to have cigarettes in the house," Dawn admonished. Spike ignored her, and the teenager let out an exasperated sigh, as teenagers were so good at doing.  
  
"She's not going to go running back to him," she tried again. Still Spike didn't turn around, but this time at least he answered her.  
  
"You don't know the half of it," he muttered. Dawn rolled her eyes, another patented teenager mannerism. For someone who had loved over two hundred and fifty years, he sure had a knack for acting like a twelve-year-old.  
  
"Spike, I know what happened between Angel and Buffy, I know what happened between you and Buffy. And who is she with now?"  
  
"Only because she can't be with him."  
  
"Please, Spike. Wake up! Buffy loves you."  
  
Spike gave a dry laugh. "I know you'd love for you, me, and Big Sis to be a family, Bit, but it's not in the cards. Vampire, vampire slayer. We've worked this equation before."  
  
Dawn approached her surrogate brother, coming to stand next to him at the sink and turning him to face her.  
  
"What math class were you in?" she asked. "Because I was told that all you have to do is change the variable. Work the equation again, and you've got a completely different answer."  
  
"And what's that new variable?" Spike asked, clearly playing along to humor her.  
  
"Your soul." With a knowing smirk, Spike finished off the blood pack and moved to the other side of the kitchen towards the door.  
  
"Buffy doesn't give a damn about my soul," he said. "I went through hell and back to get it, just so that I would be good enough for her, and she treats me as if nothing's changed."  
  
Dawn sighed. "Spike, you're acting like a child," she said bluntly. "You can be depressed and glowery and narcissistic all you like, trying to be the Big Bad, but you're not. You have a soul. And even without the soul - sorry to break it to you, but you haven't been evil in years. Yeah, things between you and Buffy ended badly, but it was nobody's fault. I've heard the stories and the excuses. You drove each other crazy - it wasn't a relationship, it was just sex. Now you have a chance at something real and you're running scared? Real mature. But hey, if you wanna run, go right ahead. Be my guest. Just realize what you're running from. Buffy had forgiven you. She's forgiven and forgotten and she loves you, but you're obviously too stupid to realize that. So if you want to run, run. Just don't expect us to be here when you come running right back."  
  
For a moment, Spike just stared at her in awe. The girl who had once been his Nibblet had suddenly grown up right under her nose, blossoming into the radiant young woman standing before him, hands on her hips, head cocked to the side, eyes flashing in anger, looking for all the world like her big sister.  
  
Buffy...  
  
His blanket was still on the counter. He hadn't used it in weeks, but he grabbed it now, to shield him from the afternoon sun.  
  
And he ran away.  
  
~*~  
  
Stunned, Buffy flopped back onto the couch, unable to believe her own ears.  
  
"Need a minute?" Cordy asked knowingly.   
  
"Try a century," Buffy replied wryly. She knew Angel had moved on; she wanted him to. But to *Cordelia*? And now Angelus was loose and Connor was a teenager and Cordelia was half-demon and Faith was out of prison...  
  
"Wow," was all Buffy could manage out.  
  
"You're telling me."  
  
Another pause. "So do you want us to come down? It sounds like you guys could use some help."  
  
"*Can* you? I mean I've heard all about the situation down there with the First, I wouldn't want you to leave something like that unattended."  
  
"No, we have a team that can stay here, keep an eye on things. It's actually been pretty quiet lately."  
  
"You're sure?"  
  
"It's Angel."  
  
"Right." Pause. "So...what's new with you?" Buffy chuckled. This was new.  
  
"Not much."  
  
"And by not much you mean boning Spike, correct?"  
  
"What?!" Buffy exclaimed. "How did you..."  
  
"Wesley."  
  
"And how does *he* know?"  
  
"Giles."  
  
"Ah. There's not be any chance anything in the Watcher diaries about a Slayer killing her watcher, is there?" Now it was Cordelia's turn to chuckle, albeit lightly.  
  
"Don't think so."  
  
"Well, there may just be now." Pause. This situation just kept getting more and more surreal.  
  
"Vampires," Cordy laughed. "And we're supposed to be the good guys, huh?"  
  
"Supposedly," Buffy agreed. "What is it about them?" In all of history, in all the earth, there have been two vampires with souls. Two. I'm the freaking Slayer and I've fallen in love with both of them. What does that say about me? Why does this keep happening?"  
  
"Because they're gorgeous and they live forever?" Cordelia suggested bluntly. This time when Buffy laughed, it was a real laugh. This wasn't the shallow, bitchy Cordelia of Sunnydale High. This was an older, more mature Cordelia.  
  
"How's he doing?" she asked, not even needing to say his name. "I mean...how was he? Before all this started?"  
  
"Good. Well, as good as Angel can get, you know. For about a week there, we were actually happy. All of us. And then this beast appeared and things spun out of control."  
  
"And Connor? Last I saw of him, he was just a baby. And now..."  
  
"Now he's a teenager. God help us all." The statement was casual, but Buffy could hear the tension in her...friend's voice. Friend...after all these years, after all the whining and the bickering and the insults, she and Cordelia had suddenly become friends. Brought together by their one common idiosyncrasy: falling in love with vampires.  
  
"What?" she asked. Something about Connor was making Cordy nervous.  
  
To her surprise, the former cheerleader's voice began to waver and catch as she spoke. "Before Angel lost his soul, I..." She choked, then whispered the last four words as if she was scared of them. And with good reason.  
  
"I slept with Connor," she confessed. Buffy was too stunned to say anything. She had prepared herself for the worst, but she had to admit that she wouldn't in a million years seen *that* coming. Cordy went on, as if trying to apologize. "And Angel saw. We yelled and we fought and I never got a chance to tell him..." She stopped, afraid of admitting the words, to Buffy or herself. But the Slayer knew what was on the tip of her tongue.  
  
"You love him," she stated quietly, scarcely able to believe the words. Cordelia was in love with Angel. It didn't seem possible. But then again, neither did this entire situation.  
  
"Yes," Cordelia murmured. "I know it's stupid, but - "  
  
"No," Buffy interrupted. "It's not stupid. Falling in love with Angel was one of the easiest things I've ever done in my entire life. Making that love last, and survive everything that was thrown at us? *That* was the hard part. But we've changed. I've changed, Angel's changed, and by God you've changed. My time with Angel is over. But who's to say that the two of you couldn't make it work? I won't lie to you, it's going to be difficult and frustrating and scary, but in the end? It's worth it. Even if you don't make it very long...its worth it."  
  
"'Tis better to have loved and lost than never loved at all," Cordy quoted.  
  
"Exactly. I wouldn't give up the time I had with Angel for anything. But I wouldn't drop everything just to go be with him if the opportunity came up, either. Being with Angel, and going though what I did after he left, and while he was Angelus...it was just something I needed to do to realize - "  
  
"That it's okay to love another vampire?"  
  
Buffy sighed. "I guess so," she admitted.  
  
"You know, I never did hear the whole story on Spike. All I've heard are the bare details. To hear it from the source might be nice."  
  
"Got a few lifetimes to spare?" Buffy asked wryly.  
  
"Always."  
  
~*~  
  
Spike sighed as he wandered the dark streets of Sunnydale. It was late and he was hungry. Unfortunately, all of his blood was back at the Summers' house. As was his money, he realized forlornly as he passed the butcher's shop.  
  
*Figures*, he thought to himself. *Now I'll have to go knocking at her door pleading for help. Brilliant, you git, just brilliant.* But as he rounded the corner, he realized there was still one more person who would take him in.  
  
Giles. Granted, the vampire and the Watcher were far from being...well, *friendly*, but his apartment had become somewhat of a solace for Spike if he needed to escape the chaos of Slayerette central every now and then. Call him a softie, but he rather missed living with good old Rupert - it was nice to have a fellow Englishman around. Plus there was a television with cable, a couch with his name on it, and an opportunity for some quality conversation. The two of them had bonded, amazingly; over the Motherland and demons and a mutual love and respect for the Slayer. Call it an understanding of sorts. They could stand to be in the same room without trying to kill each other, at least. Well, that and, if he wasn't mistaken, there was a pack of blood still left in the fridge.  
  
Spike turned down Somerset Lane.  
  
~*~  
  
"And that's the end?" Cordelia asked incredulously.  
  
"For now," Buffy replied.   
  
"Except for the part where you fell in love with him all over again."  
  
"What?"   
  
"It's in your voice, the way you talk when you talk about him. You still love him, don't you? Or maybe you never stopped."  
  
"I think, now that I'm back and I accept it and I'm happy, that now I'm more ready for a relationship. It wasn't love before, not from my side - it was just sex. But now...I don't know. Something's changed. And it's not just the soul, either, it's just...the situation. Finally, the timing is right, and things are really just starting to...click. You know?"  
  
"So when are you going to tell him?" Buffy paused uncertainly. "Oh, come on, you have to tell him sometime."  
  
"I just...feel like we're stuck in the same old rut sometimes. Like we're back at the beginning where if I admit anything, he'd insist on telling everyone."  
  
"He's a different person now," Cordy pointed out.  
  
"Yes he is," Buffy agreed.  
  
"And telling everyone...would it really be so bad? If he's good and you love him?"  
  
"Maybe not...What about Wesley and the others - do they know?" Cordelia laughed dismissively.  
  
"They knew before we did."  
  
"And Angel? Have you told him?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Oh. How did that go?"  
  
"He said it back, if that's what you're asking. Surprisingly enough, he actually said it first. And then we took away his soul."  
  
"God..." Buffy swallowed hard. Back in high school, she'd thought that Cordelia could never hope to understand that she was going through with Angel. Now the other girl's pain easily rivaled her own. "At least you have that," she said lamely. Cordy sighed.  
  
"What a boat we're in, huh?" she asked. "You've got the man you love right beside you but you can't make yourself tell him. I did tell him and now he's a homicidal maniac."  
  
"Vampires," Buffy concluded. "Can't live with 'em..."  
  
"Can't live without 'em."  
  
~*~  
  
The house was empty when Spike entered. "Guess old Ripper's having himself a night out," he muttered. Oh, well. There was still blood and liquor. Moving into the kitchen, Spike got himself a glass and set about mixing a packet of blood with half a bottle of vodka. Collapsing into Giles' favorite armchair, he flipped on the telly and proceeded to drink himself into a stupor. The world was falling apart around him and Buffy was about to go running back to his grandsire's arms. Eternal unlife really sucked.  
  
~*~  
  
As she hung up the phone, Buffy glanced at the clock, and was shocked to see that she and Cordelia had been talking for nearly four hours.  
  
"Wow," Willow commented, making the same observation. "That long on the phone with Cordelia? Who'd-a-thunk-it?"  
  
"And without storming over there and strangling her mid-sentence," Xander chimed in. "I can't say I could show the same restraint. I am *so* glad that woman is all the way in L.A. The less I see of her, the better." He took one look at Buffy's expression. "We're going down there, aren't we?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah," the Slayer replied.   
  
"Are you sure that's smart?" Willow piped up. "I mean, shouldn't we be here to watch over the seal and everything?"  
  
"Robin can handle it. We'll leave Andrew and a few of the Potentials with him and he should be more than okay."  
  
"Buffy, what's going on down there?" Xander asked. Buffy sighed.  
  
"The short version?" she began. "Big, unkillable demon that Angel used to know when he was Angelus. He couldn't remember anything about him because of some sort of spell that was cast to erase all memories or information about him. Because Angelus was Angel at the time the spell was cast, he wasn't affected. Wesley found a shaman who turned Angel back into Angelus. Someone stole his soul, he escaped, and now he's working for the beast."  
  
The blank expressions Buffy received pretty much mirrored her own reaction to the news when she had heard it. "Yeah," she agreed. "I know. And they need us down there ASAP. So we'll leave tomorrow, first thing. Xander, you find the transportation; Willow, you wait for Giles and Dawn and the Potentials to get back; I'll go tell Andrew and Robin. Understand?" Her two best friends nodded. "Allright then. Off we go. To L.A."  
  
"Once more unto the breach," Xander muttered to Willow under his breath.  
  
"We few," she responded. "Oh, we happy few."  
  
~*~ 


	2. Chapter Two

An End To All (2/?)  
Angelus angelus1317@hotmail.com  
See first chapter for disclaimer, etc.  
  
Author's Notes: I *think* the Summers' house address is 1630 Revello Drive. I know the Revello drive part is right, at least. If that bothers you, I'm sorry. Feel free to correct me. In case you were wondering, I don't own Frito's or Oreos any more than I own all these wonderful characters; they belong to Frito-Lay and Nabisco, respectively. Also, I need to express my extreme happiness in the way that the Xander/Anya scene turned out. I've never tried writing them before, but I think I got the characterization right on target. So, yay me. Now read!  
  
~*~  
  
The sky was dark when the small yet powerful army gathered in the driveway of the Summers house. And what an odd assortment it was, consisting of Buffy, Dawn, Willow, Xander, Anya, Giles, Kennedy, and half of the twelve Potentials. The other half, along with Andrew, had been shipped off to Giles' house with Robin Wood. All were eager to be the ones in charge of protecting the city like real Slayers. It was a big job, but Buffy was confident that they could handle it.  
  
Buffy stood at the end of the driveway, staring out towards the rising sun; towards the few tentative rays just barely peeking over the horizon. It was still early, she told herself. There was still time. He might show.  
  
Behind her, Xander playfully revved the engine of their giant rented Winnebago. One of two, actually. It was courting danger renting those things after what happened to the last one, but they were all that Xander could find to fit all 13 of them and their gear on their skin-tight budget.  
  
They were all here now, ready to go. Dawn had been informed, Anya had been fetched, Giles and the Potentials had been given their assignments as soon as they had gotten back from patrolling, and Robin had been telephoned with his mission soon after - Andrew and half of the Potentials were safely at Giles' house with him, as his own apartment proved too small to accommodate them all. The cars were loaded, the luggage packed, the tanks fuelled. All they were waiting for was...well, her.  
  
Willow approached from behind. "Buffy, it's five in the morning," she pointed out logically. "He doesn't even know we're leaving." Her friend didn't respond. "We could look for him," she continued. "He'd be a big help if we brought him along."  
  
"No," Buffy said. "It's okay. Let's go." She wanted to go look for him - desperately. With all that awaited her in L.A, she needed Spike there with her, to be her rock. But something - she wasn't sure what - was holding her back.  
  
"You sure?" Willow asked. The Slayer nodded.  
  
"Yeah." With one last, searching glance over her shoulder, she turned to the twin Winnebagos in her driveway. Xander waved merrily from the driver's seat of the vehicle to her left. Without another backwards glance, she climbed in.  
  
~*~  
  
There was someone in the house, Spike realized with a start. Groggily, he tried to pry his eyes open, but they wouldn't quite comply. He groaned.  
  
Suddenly the door opened and Spike felt a human enter. Couldn't be Giles - the footsteps were light and the air smelled of something floral and distinctively feminine.  
  
"Spike?!" a quiet voice exclaimed.   
  
"Yeah." This time his eyes did open, only to find one of the Potentials staring back at him. Closing his eyes again, he muttered "Bloody hell. hat are you doing here?"  
  
"Principal Wood brought us here," she answered.   
  
"Wood? *He's* here?" Spike exclaimed. Even the name tasted bitter on his tongue.  
  
"Yes I'm here," Wood's voice came from behind them. "And I'd like to direct that question back at you. Why are *you* here, Spike?"  
  
"I live here, you git," Spike spat. "Sometimes." He winced as Wood's voice, three or four times louder than the Potential's, sent his ears ringing and his head pounding. He tried to sit up, but too fast. He groaned again.  
  
"Are you drunk?" the girl asked innocently. Spike shot her a saucy grin.  
  
"Hung over," he admitted. "One of the not-so-pleasant side effects of getting plastered." She grinned and Pike felt a warm tingle settle in his belly. He liked this girl - she reminded him alot of his Nibblet.  
  
Dawn...Ignoring the shooting pain, he climbed out of the chair. He needed to get over to the Summers house - to apologize. It seemed like he was doing alot of that lately. When would he learn to just stop screwing up in the first place?  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" Wood demanded. Spike snorted. As if he'd tell that wanker. Ignoring him, he pushed past the group of Potentials at the door, grabbing his blanket again.   
  
The Potential - Annabelle - turned to glare at Wood. During these past few weeks living at the Summers house, she'd grown, despite her initial prejudices, to like Spike. She was aware as well of the competition between him and Wood over Buffy. At one time, she would have balked at the thought of herself advocating a vampire falling in love with a Slayer. But being around Buffy, being around him...she couldn't help but feel sympathy towards them both. It couldn't be easy.  
  
She was more than a little upset that she hadn't been chosen to go to L.A. with the group. But someone had to be left behind, right? Six someones. She wasn't going to whine, she wasn't going to complain; she was going to patrol with the others like she was supposed to.  
  
But she *really* wanted to be out there. Fighting the good fight. Luckily, Annabelle was a girl who saw opportunities when they arose. And in Spike, she saw an opportunity. Shooting a glance over her shoulder at Wood, she darted after the peroxided vampire. But by the time she got out the door, all she could see was a smoking blanket far off in the distance. But she knew exactly where he was headed.  
  
Annabelle took off towards the Summers house.  
  
~*~  
  
By the time he reached Revello drive, Spike was in agony. His head still pounded and his skin felt like it was being parboiled. Just in time, he dove for the safety of house #1630. To his surprise, the door was locked. Safely sheltered from the sun by the small overhang above the door, he began to pound. Only after fifteen seconds or so did he notice the note taped to said door. It was from Dawn.  
  
Spike-  
  
I knew you'd come back. Like always, however, you're just a few hours too late. This morning, we left for L.A. - Angel's in trouble. And before you go jumping to conclusions, it's not what you think. Buffy loves you. *I* love you. Wood's going to keep an eye out on Sunnydale and the seal - we left him at Giles' with Andrew and some of the Potentials. We'll be back...actually, I'm not sure when we'll be back. In the meantime, you know where to find us.  
  
Love,  
Your Nibblet  
  
*His* Nibblet. Spike smiled. Then he frowned. They were going to L.A. To "help" his poofter of a sire. No matter how much Dawn tried to reassure him, he still got nervous at the thought of the two of them together. There was no way he was letting her go down there without him. He chuckled, looking down at the note in his hands. Dawn had known this was how he'd react. He had to give the girl credit - she was getting smarter - and more like her older sister - every day.  
  
So...it looked like he was going to L.A. What fun.  
  
"Spike?" a voice from behind him inquired. He spun to see the same Potential that he had seen when he had woken up at Giles' this morning. What *was* her name? He cocked his head to the side, studying her. Tiny body, open smiling face, shining copper hair...Annabelle. That was it.  
  
"They're gone," Annabelle informed him. He smiled wryly.  
  
"I know," he said, holding up the note. "When did they leave?" Annabelle's smile broke into a full-blown grin.  
  
"I could tell you," she said slyly. "On one condition." Spike smirked. The girl had stones, he'd give her that much.   
  
"You want to come with," he said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.  
  
"Exactly," she confirmed. Spike paused.  
  
"Can you drive?" he asked.  
  
"Yep." Should he, shouldn't he? Should he, shouldn't he... Oh, why the hell not? Spike dug into his duster pocket to retrieve his car keys, which he tossed at Annabelle.  
  
"'57 DeSoto, blacked-out windows, parked outside the cemetery. Can't miss it. Hurry back, now." Annabelle grinned and dashed down the street.  
  
~*~  
  
Anya was up front talking to Xander. Dawn and Chloe were playing cards. Jania and Molly were trying to take a nap. And Buffy was moping.  
  
She didn't know why she had thought he would come. Willow made quite a valid point - how would he even know they were leaving if no one told him? But Buffy didn't want to tell him. She didn't want to seem like she was begging him to come after her. If he wanted to admit what a jerk he'd been by running off without hearing the whole story, she'd let him do it of his own volition. And he hadn't.  
  
Dawn approached from behind. Putting on a brave face, Buffy turned to face her teenage sister.  
  
"Hey," she said with a smile. "How're you holding up?" Dawn shrugged.  
  
"Fine," she said. "Tired. Beating the pants off of Chloe. Scared about what's going on down in L.A. Missing Spike." Buffy remained silent. "We should've brought him along," Dawn said. "You know we should've. We need him. For manpower, and...well, we just *need* him in general. He's as much a part of our family as Willow or Xander." Finally, Buffy broke.  
  
"I *know*," she whispered, her eyes stinging with unshed tears. "I should have told him. I should've. But..."  
  
"But you didn't want to admit it - that we need him. Am I right?" Dawn finished. Buffy chuckled.  
  
"Embarrassingly so," she admitted. "When did you get to be the smart one, anyway?" Dawn shrugged.  
  
"Dunno," she said flippantly. "Must be a gift." She was rewarded with another small chuckle from Buffy, then she turned serious. "You do love him, though?" she prodded. Buffy nodded. "Good."  
  
"Why?" her sister asked suspiciously. Dawn led her to the back window of the Winnebago and pointed silently.  
  
A black DeSoto was speeding towards them.  
  
~*~   
  
Things were equally quiet in the leading vehicle. While Giles chugged along in the driver's seat, Willow led Kat, Kennedy, Madeira, and Rona in a simple meditation exercise. The five girls sat in a circle on the floor of the van, hands linked, eyes closed.  
  
"You are calm," Willow intoned.  
  
"We are calm," the group parroted.  
  
"You are focused."  
  
"We are focused."  
  
"You are determined."  
  
"We are determined."  
  
"Is anyone hungry?" Gile's voice sliced through Willow's concentration. "We're approaching a rest stop." She didn't miss a beat.  
  
"You are hungry," she informed the Potentials.  
  
"We are hungry," they chorused.  
  
"Allright then," Giles responded, and set about dialling Xander's cell phone to inform the second van that they were turning. Hearing this, Kennedy's eyes popped open.  
  
"Willow!" she chided. Willow shot her semi-girlfriend a grin as she peered out the window of the Winnebago to see a Good Humor sign taped in the window of the gas station at the rapidly-approaching rest stop.  
  
"What?" she asked innocently. Kennedy shot her a look, but her grin only grew wider. "Hey, I'm willing to bend the rules a bit," she said. "As long as I get an ice cream sandwich out of the deal." And Kennedy couldn't help but smile back.  
  
~*~  
  
"So how did you know you might be a Slayer?" Spike asked Annabelle, his headache long since gone thanks to his advanced healing. He really liked this girl - she had spunk. Kinda like his beloved Summers women, dead and alive - he didn't fail to see that parallel.  
  
"My parents sent me to my Watcher early on," the girl answered. "I think they thought it was a boarding school of some sorts. You know, the place where they send the bad little children."  
  
"And were you a bad little child?" Spike inquired with a lopsided, knowing grin. Annabelle pursed her lips in thought.  
  
"Would spreading glue all over the Headmaster's chair and desk before school be considered bad?" she asked.  
  
"'Fraid so, luv."  
  
"Then I believe I was." The vampire chuckled.   
  
"Join the club," he said.  
  
"Oh, really?" Annabelle countered. "That's not quite what I was told." Spike was flabbergasted.  
  
"Has the Slayer been telling you things?" he asked.  
  
"Only the truth," Annabelle giggled. Spike sighed.  
  
"I'll have you know I knicked my fair share of pocketbooks in my day," he protested. Annabelle patted him on the arm.  
  
"Of course you did," she said condescendingly. "Of course you did."  
  
~*~  
  
"Pit stop," Xander announced as he lane-changed in the direction of the next exit. "Get your food and bathroom breaks in now or forever hold your peace."  
  
Buffy glanced nervously at the hulking black car trailing behind them. Somehow, Xander still either hadn't noticed it or hadn't made the mental connection that it belonged to Spike, and for that, Buffy was glad. She would deal with Xander later - right now, she needed to see Spike. She needed to - not wanted, but *needed* - to feel his arms around her, to hear him whisper in her ear that everything would be allright.  
  
Xander pulled smoothly into a parking space, right next to Giles. They were the only two cars in the whole place. As soon as the twin vehicles came to a complete stop, the doors were flung wide open, and happily-chatting Scoobies and Potentials alike, plus the perpetually stone-faced Watcher, piled out, running towards the gas station in desperate search of nourishment and bladder relief.  
  
Only Buffy, Dawn, and Kat were still outside when the black DeSoto peeled into the lot and came to a screeching halt in the closest spot of shade.  
  
And out climbed Spike.  
  
As much as Buffy wanted to run towards him at full speed, with arms wide open, she had told herself that she would be mad at him - after all, he had jumped to conclusions then run off when she needed him to lean on after the bomb that Cordy had dropped. She would be firm, she told herself. No showing of emotion until he delivered a heartfelt apology.  
  
But the second the Slayer laid eyes on him, all that went right out the window. He strode confidently towards her, his face bold and determined, and she didn't shove him away; she didn't protest as he took her face in his hands and drew it up to his own, pressing his lips forcefully against hers, backing her against the Winnebago as he did so. No, she did anything but protest. Instead, she put her hands at his waist and kissed him back with equal fervor, wondering how she had ever spent even one night without his smooth, lean body pressed fully against hers as it was now.  
  
"You are *mine*," Spike informed her in a low growl when he finally pulled away, leaving her breathless and begging for more. "Do you understand? *Mine*. Tell Peaches he can keep his hands the fuck off." And then he proceeded to steal the air from her lungs once more.  
  
"Are we clear?" he asked when he had released her the second time. This time even he was panting slightly.  
  
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Cut the caveman routine, Spike," she said. "I'm not your property."  
  
"You're my woman," Spike argued stubbornly. "That's good enough for me." For that, he received another eye-roll.  
  
"You're a pig, you know that?" Buffy said, with barely a hint of annoyance.  
  
"But you love it," he pointed out, and she knew that he had her there. So this time when he leaned in, the kiss was different - it was soft and sweet and tender in a way that Buffy was surprised Spike was capable of. But what was he if not always keeping her on her toes? She kissed him a final time, lightly, before chaining her arms around his neck and pulling him down for an embrace.  
  
It was odd - as Buffy stood there, safely wrapped in the arms of her vampire, she realized that they had never done this before - hugged. It was...nice. Normal. Comforting. And it was sending Buffy's train of thought down a very scary path - one that straddled the lines of lust, love, and caring all at the same time. But she only had a few moments to reflect on this before Dawn cleared her throat and it all came rushing back. There were other people here - people like Xander and Giles who she really didn't feel like dealing with right now. Reluctantly, she released her vampire. As soon as she did, Dawn launched herself at him. He laughed softly, stroking her hair.  
  
"Nibs, I was only gone a few hours," he pointed out.  
  
"Long enough," the teen said. She released him. "Now you are staying, right?" she demanded. "No driving back home?"  
  
"Where my girls are," Spike murmured, laying a hand on each of them. "That's home."  
  
~*~  
  
Kat watched the scene before her unfold in awe - it was singularly the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. The Slayer, the vampire, and the Key clung to one another, a family once more. The love and tenderness between them was so thick it was almost palpable.  
  
"Allright," Dawn said to her, giving Spike one last kiss on the cheek. "Let's give these two some space." And Kat followed her towards the gas station.  
  
"They really love each other, don't they?" she asked in quiet wonderment. Dawn smiled widely.  
  
"Yeah," she said softly. "They do." Then she scrunched up her nose. "Not like Buffy will ever admit it, though," she complained.   
  
"Doesn't it bother you, though?" Kat asked. "Him being a vampire?" Dawn shook her head without hesitation.  
  
"He has a soul," she reminded the younger girl.  
  
"But even before that," she pressed. "Weren't they together then?"  
  
"Somewhat," Dawn answered. "Look, Spike may be a vampire, and he may like to play like he's the Big Bad, but we all know he's just a big softie. When Buffy died last summer, he stayed with me every night. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to. He's been a big brother and a best friend to me ever since he got to Sunnydale, and he loves both me and Buffy. He'd never so anything to purposefully hurt us - it's just not in his nature. So no, I don't worry that he's a vampire. Vampire, man, werewolf, vengeance demon...you'll see that in Sunnydale there's no longer such a defined line between one or the other. Spike's not a vampire to me - he's just Spike."  
  
The two were quiet for a moment as they entered the gas station, Kat needing some time to digest all of this.  
  
"It must seem weird to you, and I get that," Dawn reassured her. "I mean, you're probably taught that the world is just black and white, no shades of gray, am I right?" Kat nodded.  
  
"I think I'm beginning to understand the Sunnydale mentality a bit better, though," she said. "What I just saw out there? It should have turned my stomach. But it didn't. I don't think I've ever seen anyone with as much love in their eyes as Spike when he was looking at you and your sister. And I mean, I'm supposed to believe that vampire's can't love at all, let alone to the extent that I just witnessed."  
  
"That's Spike, allright," Dawn agreed. "The walking contradiction."  
  
~*~  
  
Xander stood in the chips and cookies aisle, trying to decide between Oreos and Frito's. Which ones did Anya like better? He struggled to remember.  
  
...One night, not so long ago, his fiancee complaining as she tried to brush away the chocolate crumbs stubbornly clinging to the white bedsheets, grouching at him the whole time, even though she had been the one that had insisted on eating them as they watched T.V. in bed in the first place...  
  
He grabbed the Oreos. Double-Stuffed, too - she'd be sure to thank him. Just as he was going for a second pack, Anya sidled up next to him.  
  
"Hey," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.  
  
"Hey," Xander returned. The tension was rolling off both of them like waves, and he was pretty sure that if he touched her, they'd both explode.  
  
"I got you cookies," he said hopefully, then mentally kicked himself at his own lameness. But the shy smile that broke out across her face made it all worth it. Eagerly, he held out the package to her. And when she reached for it, their fingers brushed, but they didn't explode after all. Anya turned, as if embarrassed, and moved down the next aisle, leaving Xander staring at his hand.  
  
It had felt quite pleasant, actually.  
  
~*~  
  
Giles was the first one to notice it.  
  
"What on earth is Spike doing here?" directing the question at no one in particular. The entire gas station, packed full of the Sunnydale group, froze. Looked. Saw the car. And began chattering animatedly, twice as loud and fast as before. He'd never get them quiet now, Giles lamented silently. But then he spotted Dawn and Kat standing silently in a corner. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, he stalked over to the pair.  
  
"Did you know about this?" he demanded. Kat looked to the ground, but Dawn met his eyes.  
  
"Not until he showed up a few minutes ago," she answered truthfully. But Giles was barely listening. Instead, his eyes were already scanning the tiny shop for Buffy. She was nowhere to be found.  
  
"Is she out there with him?" Xander asked, following the Watcher's train of thought but beating him to the punch. "She is, isn't she? I'm gonna kill him. I swear to God, I'm gonna kill him..."  
  
"Leave it alone, Xander," Dawn commanded. "Buffy is perfectly capable of taking care of herself."  
  
"Not when it comes to Spike," he countered, stalking towards the door. All of the sudden, Kat grabbed his arm, restraining him. Xander looked at her in surprise. But before he could say anything, Buffy strolled through the door, Spike trailing behind her. Dawn smirked knowingly at their mussed hair, sweaty faces, and swollen lips. Her family was back the way it was supposed to be.  
  
The group was speechless. No one moved, no one breathed, no one blinked. Except for Spike, who rolled his eyes.  
  
"Well hello to you all, too," he said. "Nice to see a bloke so well-received." Xander was about to make a smart-ass remark, but this time it was Willow who stopped him.  
  
"How did you know where we were going?" she asked. Spike smiled, gesturing at Annabelle, who had finally exited the car once the dramatics were over. Buffy had tried to be mad at her, but what could she say? The girl had brought her Spike.  
  
"Annabelle!" Anya exclaimed. "You're supposed to be at home."  
  
"Anybody wanna go drive her back?" Spike pointed out. "Be my guest."  
  
"You know, that's not a bad idea. In fact, why don't *you* do that?" Xander suggested. "Seeing as how you're the only one here who wasn't invited. We didn't tell you where we were going because we didn't want you to come. Take the hint."  
  
"Oh, piss off, Whelp," Spike said. Xander took a step forward. Finally, Buffy intervened.   
  
"Allright, knock it off," she said. "She's here, he's here, we can use them - they're staying. And that's quite enough out of you two."  
  
Xander and Spike glared at one another, grumbling at having been effectively subdued by the tiny blonde lass than half their size.  
  
~*~  
  
The commotion died down a bit, but the Potentials kept up the chatter, overly excited at finally having something to talk about outside of vampires, demons, and the apocalypse. Meanwhile, Xander glared, Anya babbled, Dawn smirked, Willow stuttered, and Giles cleaned his glasses. Buffy struggled not to laugh at the situation unfolding around her.  
  
When the gas station was nearly empty, Spike approached her. "Come with me, luv," he whispered in her ear.  
  
"Where?" she asked.  
  
"Car. Ride with me." He slipped his hands around her waist under her shirt and moved to kiss her, but she pulled away.  
  
"There's still people here," she hissed, looking pointedly at Madeira and Rona, who were watching them curiously. As soon as they met Spike and Buffy's eyes, however, they immediately looked down.  
  
"Oh, who cares?" Spike murmured. He nuzzled her neck and drew her closer and she didn't push him away. Madeira coughed. Rona cleared her throat.  
  
"Spike, you really should stop," the Slayer urged. Spike sighed dramatically and released her, but his hand remained at the small of her back. Not a word was spoken as the pair crossed the parking lot and Buffy climbed into the passenger's side seat of the DeSoto, yet she could feel their eyes on her.  
  
She was almost tempted to do something crazy - like grab Spike and kiss him right there in front of everyone. She didn't know what it was, but something had brought on this new perspective on their relationship. Cordelia's words were coming back at her - would it really be *that* bad to let the others know? Despite the less-than-thrilled reaction she knew would come from Xander, she was nearly bursting to throw it in their faces.  
  
When Spike was sitting beside her in the driver's seat, Buffy reached over to take his hand in hers. He looked startled, his blue eyes wide, but he squeezed it gently, and she squeezed back and he started the car and drove off and Buffy just leaned back with a sigh and a smiled of contentment. This trip was all of the sudden looking up.  
  
The whole way to L.A, she didn't let go of his hand. 


	3. Chapter Three

An End To All (3/?)  
Angelus angelus1317@hotmail.com  
See first chapter for disclaimer, etc.  
  
~*~  
  
Connor was out wandering. Then again, when wasn't he? He couldn't stand being in the hotel. Wesley and Gunn were standoffish, Fred tried to be friendly but just came off as false, Faith patronized him as if he were five, and Lorne largely ignored him. Unless he was with Cordy in her - *their* room, he was patrolling. Alone.  
  
But even being with Cordy...it just rubbed him the wrong way. There was something going on; she wasn't acting like herself. As much as he would love to ignore it, and pretend that one day they would be the happy family they promised, he knew it was impossible. Angel would come back, and he would sweep Cordy off her feet, and all would be as it was before. Except this time, he would have the memory of their time together. And she, he suspected, once they found out what was going on with her and set it right, would never know that it even existed.  
  
Did he love Cordelia? He wasn't so sure anymore. He had thought he did, at one time. When she depended on him, trusted him above even his father. Then, he had loved her. But now, he looked at Faith and he felt...a stirring of some sort. Better than the worry clenching at his gut when he lay with Cordy. He felt that stirring and he thought maybe he was never truly in love with her at all. Maybe it was just the pride of getting a one-up on his vampire father that had felt so deceivingly good.  
  
The trick, however, was not to let Cordy in on what was going on inside his head. Last week, he had gone a bit overboard, babbling a mile a minute about the brunette Slayer. Cordy had exploded, throwing a glass at him that had narrowly missed his head and chasing him out of the room. When he had deemed it safe to return, she had apologized profusely, blaming it on pregnancy hormones as always, then had pulled him into a kiss meant to make him forget.  
  
But he hadn't forgotten. The incident had stuck in the back of his mind to the point where every time he looked at her, the fear from that night at the look in her eyes returned.  
  
And that had been his first clue that something was seriously wrong.  
  
Oh, sure, there had been other signs - Connor had just chosen to ignore them. So, he supposed, this was somewhat his fault, in that he should have told the others long before the situation escalated the way it did. Because he had this funny feeling that Cordy's...condition, both physical and mental, was somehow connected to the recent chain of events.  
  
But for now, he was just going to carry on as he had been for the past month or so, because he honestly didn't know what else to do.  
  
When it came to Cordy, everything else just sort of became bottom priority. He tended to get clumsy, and forgetful, and everything else typical of a first crush - even now, with how things were going. Which is probably why he didn't see the hulking vampire who stepped into his path as he ambled down the dark streets of L.A. Consequently, he went plowing into said vampire's chest, and it was only after he had regained hid footing that he realized it was Angelus who had him by the arms. Connor swore under his breath.  
  
"Tsk, tsk," Angelus reprimanded him. "Haven't I taught you better, *son*?" He emphasized the last word with a grin; a cynical grin that didn't quite make it to his eyes.  
  
"What do you want?" Connor demanded. Angelus chuckled.  
  
"What do I *want*? Well, that's an open-ended question. A few nice, ripe young girls...virgins, preferably. A place by the ocean...one of those new GTO convertibles would be nice. And...oh, yeah. World domination."  
  
"World domination," Connor repeated. "And how does killing me fit into the plan for world domination?"   
  
"*Killing* you?" Angelus chuckled again. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of *killing* you, son. I want to thank you." He swung an arm around Connor's shoulders as if they were best buddies. Connor suppressed a shudder.  
  
"For what?" he choked out.  
  
"For taking care of my girl, of course," Angelus said jovially. His grip around Connor's neck, so that he was practically dragging him along as he walked. But this was it for Connor. He shoved Angelus away, backing down the street away from his father.  
  
"She's not your girl," he stated coldly. Angelus practically cackled, advancing on the teenager.  
  
"Well, well, well. Look at you. All puffed-up and manly," he sneered. "Protecting what's not really yours."  
  
"She *is* mine," Connor insisted vehemently. Angel or Angelus, despite recent events, he was not going to let him - or anyone - take Cordelia away from him. And maybe that was stubborn, and certainly stupid, but so be it; he was too stuck in his ways to let go now.  
  
Angelus' voice turned sinister. "She belongs to no one," he growled. "You think you know what's coming? Because she's let you believe that you'll be a nice, happy little family someday? You, me, and baby makes three - that kind of thing? You have no idea. You're just a pawn, boy. Get used to it." With that, Angelus shoved him to the ground. When Connor looked up, he was alone in the deserted alleyway.  
  
~*~  
  
With a sigh, Welsey set down the book he had been flipping through and glanced at Fred, sitting across from him a similar book resting in her lap, glasses perched on the end of her nose.  
  
"Any luck?" Wes asked. Fred sighed.  
  
"No," she admitted, removing the glasses. For a short moment, Wesley was struck by the gesture, fearing she would clean them. But she simply laid them on the table, massaging her temples.  
  
"What do you say to a little break?" Wesley said. Not waiting for her answer, he stood and moved to the back of the office where the coffee machine sat brewing a pot of tea. He and Fred were the only ones who ever drank tea; the others had their own industrial-sized pot set up behind the front counter.  
  
Even the scent of the tea was calming. Wesley poured two cups of Earl Grey and carried them back to his desk, setting one down in front of Fred. He remained standing behind her as he sipped it, until she spun her chair around to face him, blowing on her own tea.  
  
Wesley drew up another chair, so that he was sitting facing her again, but without the desk in between them. They were silent for a few moments, but after all, this was Fred, and the silence didn't last long.  
  
"I just can't believe all this," she murmured. "I keep thinking about last year, on Cordy's birthday, when we all went to Caritas. Connor was just a baby. You and Gunn got up on the stage and sang together. Lorne baked a cake in the shape of a crown. A princess crown. And Angel smeared frosting all over Cordy's face. I don't think we stopped laughing even once that whole night."  
  
"Times change," Wesley reminded her gently. This time, the silence was longer. No longer wanting her drink, Fred sat the cup on the desk and stood, walking over to the calendar that hung on the back wall. A gag gift to Angel last Christmas - yet another reminder of the way things used to be - it featured the world's most famous churches and cathedrals. Smiling faintly, Fred traced a crucifix on the pictured alter. Her finger then trailed down to a heavily-decorated square, a date in the near future - only a about three weeks away.  
  
"It's coming up again," she said. "What are we planning on doing this year? The man she loves is a demon, she slept with his son, she got hit with a crossbow arrow, and she hasn't been out of her room in weeks."  
  
Wesley, too, stood, coming up behind Fred's tiny frame, his hands on her shoulders.  
  
"Things will get better," he promised. She made a sound that was not quite a laugh.  
  
"When?"  
  
He reached over her shoulder and flipped the calendar one month forward. The first was circled, the words "Fred's B-Day" printed neatly within the square in Angel's familiar handwriting.  
  
"By this day," Wesley declared. "By this day, everything will be back to the way it's supposed to be. You are going to have the biggest, best birthday party we can possibly give you. I promise."  
  
Fred turned, looking up at him with wide, shining eyes and a smile brighter than sunshine.  
  
"Thank you," she said softly. Leaning forward, she hugged him. Wesley enveloped her tiny body in his arms and let a smile of his own play across his lips. One of his hands slid under her hair to stroke the back of her neck in a purely possessive manner. She was here, she was his, and things could only get better.  
  
~*~  
  
"What time are they supposed to get here?" Gunn questioned, just as Faith delivered a well-aimed kick to his chest. He stumbled backwards, coughing breathlessly. With him out of commission for the moment, the dark-headed Slayer checked her watch.  
  
"Any minute now," she said. Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Gunn quickly regained his breath and dove at her ankles, knocking her over. Faith swore as her head hit the tile.  
  
"Careful, kids." Lorne cautioned in a bored tone from his position on the couch, a safe distance away from the sparring pair, flipping through a magazine with a glass of brandy in one hand.  
  
Faith slipped out of Gunn's hold as if she were slicked with oil. In retaliation for the lump that was already beginning to form on the back of her head, she slammed him face-down to the linoleum. He flailed his legs and caught her knee, knocking her down again. The pair were still grappling when the door to the Hyperion opened. Faith looked up (Gunn was unable to do so, being in a headlock at the moment). There stood Buffy in the entranceway, flanked by Willow, Xander, Anya, Spike, Giles, and an assortment of young girls she could only assume were the Potentials.  
  
"Yo, B," Faith called cheerfully. "Long time no see. Great timing, by the way - Gunn here is getting his ass kicked."  
  
"Oh no you don't," Gunn protested as Faith let him up. "I was just about to break loose."   
  
"Of course you were, babe," Faith tossed over her shoulder as she approached the group of new arrivals. "Well, don't just stand there!" she exclaimed. "Come on in. Hey, Kermit go tell Wes and Fred the gang's all here." This last comment was directed at Lorne, who just smiled good-naturedly. Upon seeing him, the Potentials began poking one another and whispering. Their journey into the real, gritty world had finally begun.  
  
Faith regarded the group with barely concealed amusement. One glance at them and she could figure out nearly everything that was going on behind the scenes. Nothing had changed since high school - they still all wore their hearts on their sleeves and sported expressions so clear they might as well have been telegrams.  
  
Willow had quite obviously hooked up with one of the Potentials. Not that she was trying to hide it - they were holding hands and giggling and whispering in each other's ears. Xander and Anya were slowly working towards something - every time their eyes accidentally met, they would blush and look away. Buffy was a different story - by the way she and Spike kept looking at each other out of the corners of their eyes, she suspected that her fellow Slayer had found herself another vampire. Dawn, thrilled by the prospect of Buffy and Spike, had wedged herself between the two and kept looking back and forth from one to the other. And in the background was Giles, oblivious as ever, while the Potentials gossiped. It was fascinating, really, to watch as an outsider.   
  
Faith smothered a grin. Mix this drama with all that was going on at the Hyperion and it was looking to be one hell of a apocalypse. 


End file.
